a blog that might actually work

This isn't my first attempt at blogging.  I've thought about it many times and actually attempted to start once or twice.  The biggest thing holding me back is that I realize that nobody cares to read what I think about, well, basically nothing.  I don't care to wax philosophical about the orange I ate this morning or how far I ran and how that made me feel, and I know you don't want to read about it.

So, why have I decided to attempt to start blogging?  Well, it marks the beginning of a journey for me, or more accurately, the resumption of a journey I started a long time ago:  my relationship with God.  There was a time when I had a daily walk with him (I will use the masculine pronoun because the person of Jesus was male, and it's how I learned to think of God, even if God is probably not male or female in reality); I participated in Bible studies, went to church regularly and of my own accord, tried to have a regular devotion... hell, I even played in a Christian rock band (we were good, too).  Much like the prodigal son, however, I decided I wanted to go my own way for a while and do what I wanted.  That's not to say I stopped believing in Jesus Christ as God-made-flesh and the sacrifice he made for me; at some point, I genuinely thought that I could go explore and participate in some of the depths (and by that I mean moral depravation) of what life had to offer and retain the level of relationship with God that I already had.  I never reached the lowest of the low places that people normally think of, but by playing too close to the fire for too long, I did eventually fall in and cross boundaries I never thought I was capable of crossing.  And I paid.  Yet, God never left me, and in spite of my mistakes, I have been continually blessed in ways that I cannot claim to deserve by any stretch of the imagination.  He took me at the point at which I was dealing with the fullest consequences of my poor choices and put me in a position in a church, one that I had not even been seeking, did not deserve, played no real part in getting.  It was all his grace, and the resumption of my journey following him began from that point.

I still did not fully come back to him, though.  I was too used to relying on my own philosophies and my own intellect.  I knew much of biblical principles, and I thought that I could be okay if I just relied on what I know about God.  It took my brother being broken in his own life (in a much different way from me) for me to finally be shaken completely out of my stupor.  So, I got a new study Bible (pretty awesome, imo), got some books and devotionals to read, started participating in a Bible study and listening to a lot of messages online after consistent persuasion from God through my brother, and now I'm (humbly) trying to live every moment of my life with God, glorifying him in all I do, something I realize now  more than ever is impossible to do without his help.

Which brings me to the reason for this blog.  I like to think, I like to read, and I like to discuss.  I am particularly interested in two topics, right now:  Predestination and the Emerging Church.  I have just started pursuing these topics to understand all the ins and outs of them, not because I believe that believing the "right" thing regarding either topic is a determinant of my state of salvation (I know that I am reconciled to God through Jesus, and that I will spend eternity with him), but because they interest me and I'd like to learn as much as possible about them and perhaps even lead a class or a study on them at some point.  This blog, then, is in pursuit of the goal of possibly one day teaching what I know about these and other biblical topics.  It will allow me to "think out loud" about the things I read, digest them, comment on them, and hopefully receive further thoughtful criticism from whoever is bored enough to read my (lame) attempts at insight and maybe even exegesis.

That being said, the books I am currently reading/studying are:

Perspectives on Election, ed. by Chad Brand
A New Kind of Christianity, by Brian McLaren
Orthodoxy, by G.K. Chesterton

I will probably mostly comment on these books, for now.  However, I may also refer to articles from my Bible, conversations with friends/family, or messages I regularly follow:

Rob Bell and Shane Hipps
Mark Driscoll
Bo Jeffares
Don Lee

I'm looking forward to going down this road, and I hope that something I might put on this blog will inspire you to comment and participate.  My constant prayer is that God will allow me to put truth here, untainted by my human fallacies.

btw - i need a cool picture to put for my background that isn't just pulled of the internet.  i'd like it to be unique, so if any of you are photographers in any capacity and have something that you think would be a good representation of this page, feel free to send it to me. :)  thanks!